Facets of conscientiousness and objective markers of health status

A bottom-up approach dramatically increases the predictability of body mass from personality traits

Personality traits consistently relate to and allow predicting body mass index (BMI), but these associations may not be adequately captured with existing inventories' domains or facets. Here, we aimed to test the limits of how accurately BMI can be predicted from and described with personality traits. We used three large datasets (combined N ≈ 100,000) with nearly 700 personality assessment items to (a) empirically identify clusters of personality traits linked to BMI and (b) identify relatively small sets of items that predict BMI as accurately as possible. Factor analysis revealed 14 trait clusters showing well-established personality trait-BMI associations (disorganization, anger) and lesser-known or novel ones (altruism, obedience). Most of items' predictive accuracy (up to r = .24 here but plausibly much higher) was captured by relatively few items. Brief scales that predict BMI have potential clinical applications-for instance, screening for risk of excessive weight gain or related complications.

Association of personality facets and cognition in the Lifelines population-based cohort study

BACKGROUND

Personality traits have been associated with cognitive functioning and risk of cognitive decline. Fewer studies have investigated how personality facets are associated with cognition in large cohorts with a prospective design.

METHODS

The association between eight personality facets and cognition (speed measures reflecting psychomotor speed and visual attention; hit rate measures reflecting visual learning and working memory) was analyzed in middle-aged adults from the Lifelines cohort (N = 79911; age 43 ± 11 years).

RESULTS

High hostility, high vulnerability, low excitement seeking, and low competence were associated with worse cognitive performance on all tasks. Impulsivity-related facets had weak and differential associations, with self-discipline negatively associated with accuracy and deliberation negatively associated with speed. These associations remained largely unchanged when accounting for lifestyle factors (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity). The associations with cognition were stronger in older people for impulsiveness, deliberation, and hostility, while stronger in younger people for excitement seeking, self-discipline, and vulnerability.

CONCLUSION

In a large population-based sample with a broad age range, the associations of personality facets with cognitive functioning had small effect sizes, were independent of lifestyle factors, and varied with age and among facets within the same personality domain. These findings highlight the importance of developmental stages and facet-level research in personality-cognition associations.

Diabetes Moderates the Link between Personality Traits and Self-Rated Health (SRH)

OBJECTIVES

The primary objective of this study is to explore the relationship between personality traits and self-rated health (SRH) in individuals with diabetes, while also comparing these associations with a group of healthy controls.

METHODS

The data for this study were obtained from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS), comprising a sample of 1860 diabetes patients and 12,915 healthy controls who were matched in terms of age and sex. Hierarchical linear regression was utilized to analyze the data. The analysis included demographic variables such as age, sex, monthly income, highest educational qualification, marital status, and psychological distress assessed through the GHQ-12, personality traits, including Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Openness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion, and diabetes status (0 for diabetes patients, 1 for healthy controls) as predictors. Interactions between personality traits and diabetes status were also included as predictors, with SRH serving as the dependent variable. Additionally, separate multiple regression analyses were conducted for diabetes patients and healthy controls, incorporating demographic variables, psychological distress, and personality traits as predictors, while SRH remained the dependent variable.

RESULTS

The findings of this study indicate that diabetes significantly moderates the association between Neuroticism and SRH. Specifically, both Neuroticism and Extraversion were negatively associated with SRH, whereas Openness and Conscientiousness exhibited a positive association with SRH in healthy controls. However, among diabetes patients, only Conscientiousness showed a positive association with SRH.

CONCLUSION

Personality traits predict SRH in people with and without diabetes differently. Healthcare professionals and clinicians should try to come up with ways that improve SRH and thus better outcomes in diabetes patients based on the findings from the current study.

Self-rated health (SRH) partially mediates and associations between personality traits and life satisfaction in older adults

It is established that personality traits contribute to life satisfaction but why they are connected are far less understood. This research report tested if self-rated health (SRH) which is one's subjective ratings of their health and has a high predictivity of actual health mediates the associations between the Big Five model of personality and life satisfaction in a cohort (N = 5,845) of older adults from the UK. By using Pearson's correlation analysis and mediation analysis, the current research reported positive correlations between Agreeableness, Openness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion, SRH, and life satisfaction. However, Neuroticism was negatively correlated with SRH and life satisfaction. The main findings were that SRH partially mediates the associations between all traits in the Big Five and life satisfaction in older adults. This study began novel exploration on if SRH could explain the connections between the Big Five and life satisfaction. Results revealed SRH could partially explain these associations in all traits. These results may offer additional support to recently developed integrated account of life satisfaction, which argues that there are no single determinants of life satisfaction. Rather, life satisfaction is made up by many factors including but not limited to personality and health.

Personality Traits Predict Self-Rated Health (SRH) in Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) Patients and Healthy Controls

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the present study is to examine the association between Big Five personality traits and self-rated health (SRH) among individuals with coronary heart disease (CHD), and to compare this relationship with that of healthy control participants, which is of importance as SRH can be a determinant of outcomes.

METHODS

The current study used data from 566 participants with CHD with a mean age of 63.00 (S.D. = 15.23) years old (61.13% males) and 8608 age- and sex-matched healthy controls with a mean age of 63.87 (S.D.= 9.60) years old (61.93% males) from the UKHLS. The current study used predictive normative modelling approaches, one-sample t tests, a hierarchical regression, and two multiple regressions.

RESULTS

The current study found that CHD patients have significantly lower Conscientiousness (t(565) = -3.84, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. [-0.28, -0.09], Cohen's d = -0.16) and SRH (t(565) = -13.83, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. [-0.68, -0.51], and Cohen's d = -0.58) scores compared to age and sex-matched healthy controls. Moreover, health status (controls vs. CHD patients) moderated the links between Neuroticism, Extraversion and SRH. Specifically, Neuroticism (b = -0.03, p < 0.01, 95% C.I. [-0.04, -0.01]), Openness (b = 0.04, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. [0.02, 0.06]), and Conscientiousness (b = 0.08, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. [0.06, 0.10]) were significant predictors of SRH in healthy controls, whereas Conscientiousness (b = 0.08, p < 0.05, 95% C.I. [0.01, 0.16]) and Extraversion (b = -0.09, p < 0.01, 95% C.I. [-0.15, -0.02]) were significant predictors of SRH in CHD patients.

CONCLUSION

Based on the close associations between personality traits and SRH, and the subsequent impact on patient outcomes, the results of this study should be taken into consideration by clinicians and health professionals when developing tailored treatment and intervention programs for their patients.

Gender, Personality, and Cognitive Resilience Against Early-Life Disadvantage

OBJECTIVES

Early-life disadvantage (ELD) relates to lower late-life cognition. However, personality factors, including having an internal locus of control (LOC) or a conscientious personality, relate to resilience and effective stress coping. We explore whether personality factors convey resilience against the negative effects of ELD on cognition, by gender, in Mexico.

METHODS

Using the 2015 Mexican Health and Aging Study, we estimated expected cognition using multiple ELD markers to identify a subsample in the lowest quartile of expected cognition given ELD (n = 2,086). In this subsample, we estimated cross-sectional associations between personality and having above-median observed cognitive ability (n = 522) using logistic regression.

RESULTS

Among those in the lowest quartile of expected cognition, a more internal LOC (β = 0.32 [men] and β = 0.44 [women]) and conscientious personality (β = 0.39 [men] and β = 0.17 [women]) were significantly associated with having above-median cognitive ability in models adjusted for demographic confounders. Larger benefits of conscientiousness were observed for men than women. Associations between personality and having above-median cognitive ability remained statistically significant after further adjustment for health, stress, and cognitive stimulation variables, regardless of gender.

DISCUSSION

Personality factors may convey resilience among individuals who experienced ELD, potentially breaking the link between ELD and worse late-life cognition. Structural factors and gender roles may affect how much women benefit from personality factors.

Personality predicts self-rated health: considering age differences

Self-rated health (SRH) refers to the subjective evaluation of one's own health. Big Five personality traits including Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Openness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion have been consistently found as significant predictors of SRH. In addition, SRH declines with age, and personality traits change with age. Thus, it is reasonable to speculate that age might moderate the associations between personality traits and SRH. The current study analyzed data from 33,256 participants with a mean age of 45.78 years old and 55.92% females. The current study found that age significantly moderates the associations between Agreeableness, Openness, and Conscientiousness and SRH after controlling for demographic covariates. The current study implies that personality traits relate to SRH differently at different ages. Thus, studies regarding the associations between personality traits and SRH must take the interactions between age and personality traits into account.

Personality Traits Predict 7-Year Risk of Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis: A Prospective Study

Objective: The objective of the current study is to investigate how Big Five personality traits could predict the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis in 7 years. Methods: A binary logistic regression was used to analyze data from 17,791 participants who responded to questions at Wave 3 (collected between 2011 to 2012) and Wave 10 (collected between 2018 to 2019) using a binary logistic regression from UKHLS with a mean age of 47.01 (S.D. = 16.31) years old with 42.62% males. Results: The current study found that Openness (OR = 0.68, p < 0.01, 95% C.I. (0.51, 0.89)) and Conscientiousness (OR = 0.70, p < 0.05, 95% C.I. (0.52, 0.93)) are positively associated with a reduced risk of MS diagnosis in 7 years. Conclusion: Health professionals can use findings from the current study as evidence for developing tools for assessing the risk of MS, and providing interventions for people who may be at high risk of MS based on their personality traits.

Personality Traits Predict Life Satisfaction in Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) Patients

Objectives: The objective of the current study is to establish the association between Big Five personality traits and life satisfaction in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients. Methods: The current study analyzed data from 566 patients with CHD with a mean age of 63.00 ± 15.23 years old (61.13% males) and 3018 healthy controls (63.95% females) with a mean age of 63.85 (S.D. = 9.59) years old from the UKHLS. A train-and-test approach accompanied by one-sample t-tests was used to analyze the differences in personality traits and life satisfaction between CHD patients and healthy controls while controlling for potential confounders. Two multiple regression models were applied to analyze the associations between personality traits and life satisfaction in CHD patients and healthy controls, respectively. Results: The current study found that CHD patients have lower conscientiousness scores than healthy controls. Moreover, neuroticism was negatively related to life satisfaction, and agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion were positively related to life satisfaction in healthy controls. However, only neuroticism and agreeableness were related to life satisfaction in CHD patients. Conclusion: Health professionals and clinicians should utilize findings from the current study to make customized interventions based on CHD patients’ personality traits to gain better well-being outcomes such as life satisfaction.

The Association of Personality Traits and Parameters of Glycemic Regulation in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Patients Using isCGM

This study aimed to examine the impact of personality on glycemic regulation in adult patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The study group consisted of subjects with T1DM, who were ≥ 18 years of age. The study was conducted in two phases: At baseline, subjects completed the Croatian version of the International Personality Item Pool scale (IPIP50s) and a questionnaire designed to gather socioeconomic data, duration of diabetes, presence of chronic complications, presence of cardiovascular risk factors, frequency, and type of pre-existing hypoglycemic episodes per week. Blood and urine samples were collected and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Each participant was provided with the intermittently scanned glucose monitoring system (isCGM) Freestyle Libre. During the second visit (3 months from the start of the trial), glycemic parameters were collected from the reports generated from the Freestyle Libre system. Estimated glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) values were significantly lower after three months compared to baseline HbA1c (Wilcoxon test, p < 0.001). An inverse correlation between the number of daily scans and degree of extraversion among subjects was observed, e.g., higher degrees of extraversion resulted in lower numbers of daily scans, while lower degrees of extraversion, i.e., introvertedness, resulted in higher numbers of daily scans (Rho = −0.238 p = 0.009). There was a positive correlation between emotional stability and time spent in hypoglycemia (Rho = 0.214; p = 0.02). In addition, a shorter duration of diabetes was associated with higher percentages of TIR and vice versa (p = 0.02). Investigating personality traits can be a useful tool for identifying patients predisposed to hypoglycemia and lower scanning frequency. Patients with a longer history of T1DM require closer follow-up and should be re-educated when necessary.

Five-factor model personality traits and grip strength: Meta-analysis of seven studies

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association between Five-Factor Model personality traits and grip strength.

METHOD

Adults aged 16 to 104 years old (N > 40,000) were from the Health and Retirement Study, the Midlife in the United States Study, The English Longitudinal Study of Aging, the National Health and Aging Trends Survey, the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study, and the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study graduate and sibling samples. Participants had data on personality traits, demographic factors, grip strength, and mediators such as depressive symptoms, physical activity, body mass index (BMI), and c-reactive protein (CRP).

RESULTS

Across all samples and a meta-analysis, higher neuroticism was related to lower grip strength (meta-analytic estimate: -0.07, 95%CI: -0.075; -0.056). Higher extraversion (0.04, 95%CI: 0.022; 0.060), openness (0.05, 95%CI: 0.032; 0.062), and conscientiousness (0.05, 95%CI: 0.04; 0.065) were associated with higher grip strength across most samples and the meta-analysis. Depressive symptoms were the most consistent mediators between neuroticism and grip strength. Depressive symptoms and physical activity partly mediated the associations with extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness. Lower CRP partly mediated the association with conscientiousness. Sex moderated the associations for extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness, with stronger associations among males. Age moderated the neuroticism association, with stronger associations among younger individuals.

CONCLUSION

This study provides replicable evidence that personality is related to grip strength and identifies potential moderators and mediators of these associations. Overall, higher neuroticism is a risk factor for low grip strength, whereas high extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness may be protective.

Facets of conscientiousness and motoric cognitive risk syndrome

Conscientiousness is related to a lower risk of motoric cognitive risk syndrome (MCR), a pre-dementia syndrome characterized by slow gait speed and cognitive complaints. The present study examines which facets of conscientiousness are related to concurrent and incident MCR. Participants were dementia-free older adults aged 65-99 years (N = 6001) from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Baseline data on conscientiousness facets and MCR (cognitive complaints and gait speed) were collected in 2008/2010, along with the covariates: demographic factors, cognition, physical activity, disease burden, depressive symptoms, and body mass index (BMI). MCR was assessed again in 2012/2014 and 2016/2018. Controlling for demographic factors, higher industriousness was related to a nearly 30% lower likelihood of concurrent MCR (Odds Ratio [OR] = 0.75, 95%CI: 0.67-0.85, p < .001) and to about 60% reduced risk of incident MCR (Hazard ratio [HR] = 0.63, 95%CI: 0.56-0.71, p < .001). Self-control, order, and responsibility were also associated with a lower likelihood of concurrent (OR range: 0.82-0.88) and incident (HR range: 0.72-0.82) MCR. Traditionalism (HR = 0.84, 95%CI: 0.75-0.93, p < .01) and virtue (HR = 0.84, 95%CI: 0.75-0.93, p < .01) were related to a lower risk of incident MCR. Cognition, physical activity, disease burden, depressive symptoms, and BMI partially accounted for these associations. Industriousness is the facet of conscientiousness with the strongest association with risk of MCR. This facet could be targeted in interventions to reduce MCR and, ultimately, dementia.

Personality and health: Disentangling their between-person and within-person relationship in three longitudinal studies

Personality traits and physical health both change over the life span. Theoretical models and empirical evidence suggest that these changes are related. The current study investigated the dynamic relations between personality traits and physical health at both the between-person and the within-person levels. Data were drawn from three longitudinal studies: the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study (NAS; N = 1,734), the Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences (LISS; N = 13,559), and the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA, N = 2,209). Using random intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs) and the continuous time (CT) models, after controlling the between-person variance, generally, evidence was found for bidirectional associations between changes in neuroticism and extraversion and changes in self-rated health and general disease level. Bidirectional associations between changes in neuroticism and change in cardiovascular diseases and central nervous system diseases were observed only when time was modeled as continuous. We also found within-person associations between changes in neuroticism and extraversion and changes in performance-based ratings of motor functioning impairment. According to the current findings, the dynamic within-person relations between personality traits and health outcomes were largely in the direction consistent with their between-person connections, although the within-person relationships were substantially smaller in strength when compared their between-person counterparts. Findings from the current study highlight the importance of distinguishing between-person and within-person effects when examining the longitudinal relationship between personality traits and health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Effortful control and health among triads of mothers and twin children: An actor-partner interdependence modeling approach

Associations between effortful control and physical and mental health were examined among triads of mothers and twin children by simultaneously modeling the effects of one's own effortful control on one's own health (actor effects) with the effects of the other two family members' effortful control on one's health (partner effects). Families (N = 761 individuals; 254 families) included mothers (M_age = 39.98, SD = 5.64) and their twin children (M_age = 8.58, SD = 0.57; 51% female; 54.7% non-Hispanic White, 28% Hispanic). Mothers completed online and in-person questionnaires, and mothers' and children's body composition indicators and dominant-handgrip strength were directly assessed during two home visits. Actor effects dominated in families with twin boys and mixed-sex twins, whereas partner effects were more apparent in families with twin girls. In addition, the effects of children's effortful control on mothers' health depended on the sex of the twins. Findings uncovered important family dynamics linking effortful control to health, including that associations may vary by sex match of children in the family. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Beyond BMI: Personality traits' associations with adiposity and metabolic rate

Various personality traits are known to correlate with body mass index (BMI). However, this index of adiposity conflates fat mass with lean body mass and may therefore lead to biased estimates of correlations. Yet, rarely have studies looked beyond BMI to understand how adiposity and other physiological characteristics relate to these psychological traits. Using previously validated formulas, we calculated an improved measure of adiposity (relative fat mass, RFM), as well as basal metabolic rate (BMR); explored their associations with various personality traits; and assessed how personality traits' associations with RFM differ from their associations with BMI. In a subsample of the Estonian Biobank (N = 3535), we compared how the five domains and 30 facets of NEO Personality Inventory-3 correlated with RFM, BMI, and BMR. Various traits, notably Openness to Experience and its facets, were associated with RFM above and beyond BMI; these traits may relate to lower adiposity through eating habits. Assertiveness, a facet of Extraversion, correlated more strongly with BMI than with RFM and also correlated with BMR. These correlations mirror associations of metabolic rate with conceptually similar traits in non-human animals and are consistent with Assertiveness being based on biological processes. Finally, BMI-personality trait correlations appeared to conflate personality traits' associations with fat mass and lean mass; the use of BMI as an indicator of adiposity can lead to both attenuated and inflated estimates of personality trait-adiposity associations.

Personality Traits and Self-Care Behaviors in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

PURPOSE

Personality traits are an important factor in health behaviors. However, personality traits and self-care in T2DM in the Mexican population are not yet explored due to this; the purpose of this work was to explore the relationship of personality traits with self-care in Mexican adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study was carried out in a sample of 197 T2DM patients from a primary care center in Oaxaca, Mexico. The Big Five Inventory and the Summary of Diabetes Self-care Activities (SDSCA) were the tools used. Correlation models and multiple linear regression models were used for the analysis.

RESULTS

Most of the study participants were women (74.6%). The mean age was 53.1 years (SD = 8.4). The average years of schooling of the participants were 5.7 (SD = 4.3). The number of years lived with T2DM was 9.0 (SD = 6.5). The waist circumference was 96.3 (SD = 14.2), and the BMI was 27.5 kg/m2 (SD = 4.1). The traits of conscientiousness (r = 0.283) and openness (r = 0.259) were positively correlated with self-care activities, while neuroticism was inversely correlated (r = -0.144). In the multiple linear regression models, only the conscientiousness and openness traits were predictors of self-care; they explained 19% of the variance.

CONCLUSION

People with greater openness and conscientiousness were associated with greater compliance with self-care. Conversely, neuroticism was inversely associated with self-care in patients with T2DM.

Personality and Body Mass Index in U.S. Military Veterans: Results from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study

The relationship between the "Big 5" personality dimensions and body mass index (BMI) were examined in a nationally representative sample (National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study) of male and female U.S. military veterans. Multivariable analyses were conducted to evaluate gender-specific associations between personality factors and BMI. Among male veterans, greater extraversion was associated with higher BMI, (β = 0.18), while lower conscientiousness (β = -0.18), agreeableness (β = -0.18), and emotional stability (β = -0.17) were associated with lower BMI. Among female veterans, only greater consciousness was associated with lower BMI. These associations were robust to effects of age, physical activity, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. The "Big 5" personality dimensions are differentially associated with BMI in male and female veterans. While conscientiousness was associated with lower BMI in both male and female veterans, three additional personality dimensions were linked to BMI in male veterans. Implications of these findings for obesity management are discussed.

The association between facets of conscientiousness and performance-based and informant-rated cognition, affect, and activities in older adults

OBJECTIVE

To identify facets of conscientiousness associated with objective cognitive performance, informant-rated cognitive decline, and informant-rated affect and activities implicated in cognitive health.

METHOD

Health and Retirement Study participants (N = 2,516) reported on their personality, completed a comprehensive cognitive assessment, and had knowledgeable informants report on their cognition, affect, and activities.

RESULTS

Industriousness and responsibility were associated with better cognitive performance; order was associated with less informant-rated cognitive decline. The facets were also associated with more positive affect, less negative affect, greater engagement in cognitive activities and activities outside the house, and less engagement in passive activities, as rated by a knowledgeable informant. Informant-rated engagement in cognitive activities mediated the association between self-reported responsibility and objective cognitive performance.

CONCLUSIONS

Tendencies toward achievement and accountability were associated with healthier cognitive performance and daily profiles that support cognitive health, whereas organization was associated with cognition as reported by a knowledgeable informant. The differential pattern of correlates is informative for the theoretical processes that link distinct facets of conscientiousness to healthier cognitive aging.

Sleep, Well-Being and Academic Performance: A Study in a Singapore Residential College

We examined the relationship between sleep and the affective components of subjective well-being as well as psychological well-being, and between sleep and academic performance, of full-time undergraduate students in a residential college at the National University of Singapore. The aspects of sleep considered were self-reported sleep duration, sleep efficiency, frequency of sleep disturbances, daytime dysfunction, sleep latency and overall sleep quality, as measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Academic performance was measured using self-reported cumulative average point scores, typically known as grade point average in other institutions. Psychological well-being and the affective components of subjective well-being were assessed using the Flourishing Scale and the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience, respectively. With the exception of sleep latency, our univariate analysis revealed significant associations between the abovementioned facets of sleep, and the affective components of subjective well-being. The analysis also revealed significant associations between the above sleep variables and psychological well-being, except sleep latency and frequency of sleep disturbances. Only daytime dysfunction was found to be significantly correlated with academic performance in our univariate analysis. In addition, our multivariate analysis shows that psychological well-being, affect balance and academic performance each has a direct effect on overall sleep quality. The relationship between overall sleep quality and psychological well-being is U-shaped, while that between overall sleep quality and affect balance is linear and moderated by psychological well-being. The relationship between overall sleep quality and academic performance is either U-shaped or an inverted-U, depending on the level of psychological well-being, which moderates the relationship. These nonlinear relationships indicate that individuals with the highest levels of psychological well-being are not the best sleepers (in terms of overall sleep quality), neither are the highest academic achievers necessarily the best sleepers.

Is personality associated with dementia risk? A meta-analytic investigation

This study provides a quantitative synthesis of the prospective associations between personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness) and the risk of incident Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. We conducted five separate meta-analyses with 8-12 samples (N = 30,036 to 33,054) that were identified through a systematic literature search following the MOOSE guidelines. Higher neuroticism (HR = 1.24, 95% CI [1.17, 1.31]) and lower conscientiousness (HR = 0.77, 95% CI [0.73, 0.81]) were associated with increased dementia risk, even after accounting for covariates such as depressive symptoms. Lower extraversion (HR = 0.92, 95% CI [0.86, 0.97]), openness (HR = 0.91, 95% CI [0.86, 0.96]), and agreeableness (HR = 0.90, 95% CI [0.83, 0.98]) were also associated with increased risk, but these associations were less robust and not significant in fully adjusted models. No evidence of publication bias was found. The strength of associations was unrelated to publication year (i.e., no evidence of winner's curse). Meta-regressions indicated consistent effects for neuroticism, openness, and conscientiousness across methods to assess dementia, dementia type, follow-up length, sample age, minority, country, and personality measures. The association of extraversion and agreeableness varied by country. Our findings indicate robust associations of neuroticism and conscientiousness with dementia risk.

Relationship between personality and physical capacities in older adults: The mediating role of subjective age, aging attitudes and physical self-perceptions

Walking speed and muscular strength are two main markers of health in adulthood. Previous studies have shown that personality traits may predict these two outcomes. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying these relationships. Thus, the present study examined whether personality traits are associated with walking speed and muscular strength through the mediating role of subjective age (how young or old individuals experience themselves to be), attitudes toward aging and physical self-perceptions. Community-dwelling older women (N = 243; M_age = 73.0; SD_age = 6.5) were recruited. For reasons of recruitment feasibility, participants were only older women. They were requested to complete a questionnaire measuring personality, subjective age, attitudes toward aging and physical self-perceptions. Following this, their walking speed and their muscular strength were investigated. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. In line with the literature, we extended the associations between extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness and walking speed and between conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness and muscular strength. Physical self-perceptions appear to be a robust mediator between personality traits and walking speed whereas attitudes toward aging and subjective age mediated the personality traits/muscular strength relationship. This study provides evidence, for the first time, that the associations between personality traits and physical capacities are different according to the physical capacities investigated. Based on these results, it could be interesting to adapt physical activity interventions to the psychological profile of older adults.

Personality and Falls Among Older Adults: Evidence From a Longitudinal Cohort

OBJECTIVES

Falls can have catastrophic consequences, especially for older adults. This study examined whether personality traits predict the incidence of falls in older age.

METHOD

Participants were older adults aged from 65 to 99 years (N = 4,759) drawn from the Health and Retirement Study. Personality traits and demographic factors were assessed at baseline. Falls were tracked for up to 11 years.

RESULTS

Over the follow-up period, 2,811 individuals reported falls. Cox regression analyses that included demographic covariates indicated that lower conscientiousness and higher neuroticism increased the risk of falling. Disease burden, depressive symptoms, and physical inactivity mediated the associations between both traits and falls incidence, whereas smoking status and handgrip strength mediated the neuroticism-falls incidence association.

DISCUSSION

This study provides new prospective evidence that personality predicts the incidence of falls in older adults and suggest that personality assessment may help identifying individuals at higher risk of falling.

Personality pathways to mortality: Interleukin-6 links conscientiousness to mortality risk

Personality is associated consistently with mortality hazards, but the physiological pathways are not yet clear. Immune system dysregulation may be one such pathway due to its role in age-related morbidity and mortality. In this preregistered study, we tested whether interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) mediated the associations between personality traits and mortality hazards. The sample included 957 participants (M ± SD = 58.65 ± 11.51 years; range = 35-86 years) from the Midlife in the United States Survey that had 14 years of follow-up. Higher conscientiousness was associated with lower mortality hazards, with each one standard deviation higher conscientiousness associated with a 35% lower mortality risk. IL-6, but not CRP, partially mediated this association, with IL-6 accounting for 18% of this association in the fully adjusted model. While there was initial evidence that the biomarkers mediated both neuroticism and agreeableness and mortality risk, the indirect effects were not significant when controlling for the sociodemographic variables. Taken together, higher conscientiousness may lead to a longer life partially as a result of lower IL-6. This work highlights the importance of biological pathways that link personality to future mortality risk.

Personality and Dementia Risk in England and Australia

Evidence for the relation between personality and dementia risk comes mainly from American samples. We tested whether personality-dementia links extend to populations from England and Australia. Data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA; N = 6,887; Follow-up mean: 5.64 years) and the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA; N = 2,778; Follow-up mean: 10.96 years) were analyzed using Cox PH models. In both samples, higher neuroticism was associated with increased dementia risk. In ELSA, lower conscientiousness was related to increased risk. In HILDA, conscientiousness had a similar effect but did not reach statistical significance. The present work found a consistent association for neuroticism and suggests similar personality-dementia links across demographic groups and high-income countries.

Personality and HbA1c: Findings from six samples

Personality traits are associated with risk of diabetes, but most research to date has relied on participants reported diagnosis rather than objective markers of glycaemia. The present study examined the association between the five major domains of personality (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness) and haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). Participants (N > 26,000) were individuals aged from 16 to 104 years from six large community samples from the US, Europe, and Japan who had data on personality, demographic factors, body mass index (BMI), physical activity, and HbA1c. Of the five factors, only higher conscientiousness was related consistently to lower HbA1c level across most samples and in the meta-analysis. Conscientiousness was also related to lower risk of HbA1c ≥6.5 % (OR = .85, 95 %CI = 0.80-0.90). BMI and physical activity partially mediated the link between conscientiousness and HbA1c. There were not consistent associations for the other four traits across the six samples and no consistent associations between personality and likelihood of undiagnosed diabetes. The present study found replicable associations between conscientiousness and HbA1c in adulthood. Assessment of conscientiousness may improve the identification of individuals at risk of diabetes and guide personalized interventions for regulation of HbA1c level.

Conscientiousness and engagement with national health behaviour guidelines

High conscientiousness is associated with better health and longer life. This relationship is partly accounted for by the performance of health behaviours. The current study aimed to investigate whether conscientiousness was associated with adherence to national health behaviour guidelines as an indicator of healthy lifestyle. A cross-sectional design was used, where participants (N= 886) completed online questionnaires to assess conscientiousness and the facets of conscientiousness (order, virtue, traditionalism, self-control, responsibility, industriousness) and the performance of four health behaviours (fruit and vegetable consumption, alcohol intake, smoking, and physical activity). An index was calculated to combine the health behaviours. Conscientiousness and all its facets significantly predicted the health behaviour guideline index. In comparing high and low conscientious sub-groups, the low conscientious group had lower levels of adherence to all health behaviours guidelines measured. Strikingly, the number of high conscientious participants meeting all health behaviour guidelines was nearly twice the number of low conscientious participants meeting all guidelines. Conscientiousness is associated with adherence to multiple national health behaviour guidelines. Therefore, the positive associations between conscientiousness and health/longevity may be accounted for, in part, by the adoption of a healthy lifestyle across multiple health domains.

Personality Traits and the Subjective and Objective Experience of Sleep

BACKGROUND

There is growing evidence that five-factor model personality traits are associated with self-reported sleep. We test whether these associations extend to objective sleep measures in older adulthood and whether measures of objective sleep mediate the relation between personality and subjective sleep.

METHODS

A random subsample of participants in the National Social Life and Aging Project (NSHAP) wore an accelerometer for up to three nights and had information on FFM personality traits (N = 620). Participants also reported on their feelings of being rested.

RESULTS

Higher neuroticism and lower extraversion and conscientiousness were associated with more frequent wake after sleep onset, greater fragmentation, and feeling less rested. Concurrent body mass index, disease burden, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms accounted for these associations. Personality was unrelated to total time spent asleep but conscientiousness was associated with earlier and more consistent bedtimes. None of the objective sleep metrics mediated the relation between personality and subjective sleep.

CONCLUSIONS

The present research indicates that the associations typically found for personality and subjective sleep extend to objective sleep fragmentation. These objective measures, however, do not account for the relation between personality and feeling rested.

Personality-cognition associations across the adult life span and potential moderators: Results from two cohorts

OBJECTIVE

Personality and cognitive abilities have been previously linked. However, there are inconsistencies regarding whether this relationship varies as a function of age, and a lack of evidence on whether gender contributes to this relation, particularly across the adulthood. Therefore, this study investigated the association between personality and cognition across the adult life span, accounting for age and gender.

METHODS

We examined the association between personality and cognition in two large samples (Sample 1: N = 422; Sample 2: N = 549) including young, middle-aged and older adults. Participants completed personality scales and several cognitive measures related to reasoning, language, memory and speed of processing. Structural equation modeling was applied in order to investigate associations between personality and cognition, and moderation of age and gender within this relationship. We also conducted a mini-meta-analysis procedure in order to examine personality-cognition associations, combining results from the two samples.

RESULTS

Openness was the main trait associated with cognitive performance; however, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Neuroticism were also independently associated with cognition. Age and gender did not consistently moderate personality-cognition in each sample, but the mini-metanalysis showed that gender moderated Conscientiousness-cognition associations.

CONCLUSIONS

We provided robust evidence of personality-cognition associations across the adult life span, which was not consistently moderated by age, but in part by gender.

Personality Factors' Impact on the Structural Integrity of Mentalizing Network in Old Age: A Combined PET-MRI Study

The mentalizing network (MN) treats social interactions based on our understanding of other people's intentions and includes the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), temporoparietal junction (TPJ), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), precuneus (PC), and amygdala. Not all elders are equally affected by the aging-related decrease of mentalizing abilities. Personality has recently emerged as a strong determinant of functional connectivity in MN areas. However, its impact on volumetric changes across the MN in brain aging is still unknown. To address this issue, we explored the determinants of volume decrease in MN components including amyloid burden, personality, and APOE genotyping in a previously established cohort of 130 healthy elders with a mean follow-up of 54 months. Personality was assessed with the Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory-Revised. Regression models corrected for multiple comparisons were used to identify predictors of volume loss including time, age, sex, personality, amyloid load, presence of APOE epsilon 4 allele, and cognitive evolution. In cases with higher Agreeableness scores, there were lower volume losses in PCC, PC, and amygdala bilaterally. This was also the case for the right mPFC in elders displaying lower Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. In multiple regression models, the effect of Agreeableness was still observed in left PC and right amygdala and that of Conscientiousness was still observed in right mPFC volume loss (26.3% of variability, significant age and sex). Several Agreeableness (Modesty) and Conscientiousness (order, dutifulness, achievement striving, and self-discipline) facets were positively related to increased volume loss in cortical components of the MN. In conclusion, these data challenge the beneficial role of higher levels of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness in old age, showing that they are associated with an increased rate of volume loss within the MN.

Personality traits and preventive cancer screenings in the Health Retirement Study

The Five-Factor model of personality has been associated with a wide range of health behaviors and health outcomes. However, few studies have examined whether personality traits are related to cancer screening in older adults. The present study investigated the cross-sectional associations between personality traits and the probability of obtaining a recent preventive screening for breast, cervical, prostate, and colorectal cancer. Participants from the Health and Retirement Study (N = 14,394, Mage = 68.14 years, range = 50-102 years, 58.6% female) completed a personality inventory and reported on cancer screenings in the 2010-2012 assessment. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the data, including age, race, ethnicity, gender, education, income, and wealth as covariates. Higher conscientiousness was associated with a higher likelihood of obtaining breast, cervical, and prostate screening. Higher extraversion was related to higher odds of breast, cervical, and colorectal screening. Higher neuroticism was linked to higher odds of colorectal screening, and conscientiousness moderated the link between neuroticism and cervical screening. These associations were significant in models that accounted for demographic and socioeconomic factors. The effect sizes were in the range of a 10-20% higher likelihood of cancer screening for 1 SD difference in personality. The present findings suggest that conscientiousness and extraversion were related to preventive cancer screenings, whereas neuroticism, openness and agreeableness were largely unrelated to the likelihood of such screenings. If these results are further replicated, health policy makers may consider personality traits when planning and implementing screening recommendations to improve preventive medicine.

Facets of conscientiousness and longevity: Findings from the Health and Retirement Study

OBJECTIVES

Conscientiousness is the strongest personality predictor of longevity. The present study examined which facets of conscientiousness are the most strongly related to mortality risk in a large longitudinal sample of middle-aged and older adults.

METHOD

Seven-year mortality data were obtained from participants (total N > 11,000) from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS, 2008-2014). Six facets of conscientiousness, demographic factors, disease burden, smoking and physical inactivity were assessed at baseline.

RESULTS

Controlling for demographic factors, every standard deviation higher order, traditionalism, virtue, and responsibility was related to an approximately 10% reduced risk of mortality; industriousness was associated with an almost 25% lower likelihood of mortality. Except for traditionalism, these associations were partially accounted by health and behavioral covariates. Self-control was not related to longevity. When all facets and the covariates were simultaneously included, only industriousness was significantly associated with mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study provides new evidence about the specific facets of conscientiousness that are related to longevity.